Donald Trump’s Paris Accord Withdrawal: Fast Facts You Must Know About The Pull Out

Post by Stephanie Ekowa June 2, 2017

Trump’s Paris Accord withdrawal: President of the United States of America Donald Trump has pulled out of an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The US President announced on Thursday, June 1, that the United States will officially withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.

This deal or agreement required up to 195 participating countries to make contributions towards mitigating global warming -an impending threat which affects the whole world. All countries excluding Nicaragua and Syria signed the agreement. The two countries claimed the Paris Accord wasn’t harsh enough in the battle against climate change.

But Mr. Trump who said the accord “punished” the US and would cost millions of American jobs, withdrew from the deal, with support from senior Republicans. Trump in a statement claimed the agreement would cost the US $3trillion in lost GDP and 6.5 million jobs – while rival economies like China and India were treated more favorably.

Trump’s Paris Accord Withdrawal: Reactions

This move by the President has received massive condemnation from participating countries as well as the whole world at large. The UN has said the decision by the United States to withdraw from Paris Agreement on Climate Change is a disappointment for global efforts to manage the global threat.

The Paris Accord was an agreement brought together by countries who recognize the immense harm that climate change is already causing and the enormous opportunity that climate action presents. But the US President does not deem the agreement a top priority.

Former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has lashed out on US President, Donald Trump over his decision to opt out of the agreement signed by his predecessor Barack Obama. In reaction to America opting out, Mahama in a series of tweets said Donald Trump’s decision was from a “truly misinformed position”

Like other world leaders, Ghana’s Mahama has come at the US President over the sudden change of plans. According to the ex-President, abdicating such a sensitive responsibility on the part of the US President is a disgraceful move which erodes US leadership of the world.

Trump’s Paris Accord withdrawal has given rise to further accusations against the US president concerning his refusal to admit the existence of climate change. According to reports, Donald Trump is on record to have said during his presidential campaign that climate change is a ‘hoax’.

This reported assertion now gives more logical meaning to Trump’s Paris Accord withdrawal – a rescindment from a deal intended to help curb ‘climate change’

Paris Agreement

As stated earlier, the Paris Agreement aims to strengthen the global response to climate change by creating an international network of government bodies, all dedicated to lowering emissions. The agreement which became official in 2016, saw each nation outline its own plan to curb climate change.

The agreement was struck in 2015 between 195 countries pledging to curb greenhouse gas emissions and keep the global temperature from rising no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels over the course of the next century.

Per the agreement, the worst polluters in the world would be made to pay for the pollution. The cost is estimated at $150 per ton of carbon emission -where Mr. Trump has a hard time absorbing.

The plans are nonbinding, meaning there is no mechanism to force a country to set a specific target by a specific date. Countries also have the right to continue to make changes to their plans as they see fit.

US Second Highest Emitter of Carbon

Studies have proved that the United States of America is the second highest emitter of carbon from the burning of fossil fuels and cement manufacture; which is a major contribution to change.

In the US, changes in land use associated with human activities have the net effect of absorbing Carbon Dioxide (CO2), partially offsetting the emissions from deforestation in other regions.